“I wanted to try, when we first set out tonight, but…”

“But I screwed up when I took you to that place,” he finished. We sat quietly for a moment before he spoke again. “I’d ask for another do-over, but how many of those can a person really get?”

“Well, if you’re playing baseball, you get three strikes,” I added, unable to keep the smartass comment from tumbling free.

Tucker chuckled lightly. “I think I’ve surpassed that, even if I didn’t ask for a fresh start before, I had the opportunity and fucked it up.” He pulled off the next exit and rode it around until he managed to get the car headed in the opposite direction again. “I hate that I screwed it up,” he insisted.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I hate that I’m so observant that I noticed you screwed it up.” Okay, it wasn’t exactly the same, but still, I wish I hadn’t done that search. We might have had a great night otherwise. “I’m sorry. I know how horrible it is to have your past chasing you down and making it hard to live in the present. That wasn’t my intention either.”

We continued driving and passed the exit to my apartment again. I didn’t bother to point it out again. He wasn’t stupid. I soon learned that he had a plan for us anyway when we eventually pulled into his apartment. Both of us stayed quiet until we were inside his domain. As I stood there, feeling a thousand different conflicting emotions, Tucker reached over and pulled me closer. He leaned in and kissed the top of my head as he held me there in the circle of his arms.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean for you to have a bad night, and I sure as shit wasn’t thinking of you in the same light as those other women. I feel like we’re not going to catch a break here because of the way we started and the way our past pollutes it.”

If I was supposed to respond to that, it didn’t happen. I just tipped my head to the side and listened to his heartbeat instead. It was kind of soothing as Tucker began to run his fingers through my hair. “Mina, I honestly don’t know how to get this right with you, or hell, if I even should.”

I leaned back then. “If you want out, I’ll sign those papers your grandfather sent me.”

He chuckled. “You can’t because I tore them up and threw them away.”

It was my turn to sputter out a quick laugh. “True, but something tells me the old coot has another copy lying around somewhere.”

Tucker grinned down at me. “You’re probably not wrong about that, but it’s not what I meant. There was really nothing for you to gain from this arrangement beyond a place to hide from the life you’re afraid to explore.”

Ouch. The truth in his words hurt. I turned my head down so he wouldn’t be able to see it in my eyes. I should have known better though. Tucker gently picked my chin up with a finger placed just beneath it, until our eyes met again. “I understand why. Hell, I think most people – if they had been in your shoes – would have found a darker place to hide a long time ago. I envy your ability to show up. I don’t want to be the place where you hide though. I’d rather be the reason you realize you don’t have to anymore.”